# Search engine: what it is and how it works · Zorraquino
> A search engine is a service that helps people find resources in response to a query.
URL: https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/internet/search-engine.html

# Search engine

A search engine is a service that helps people find resources in response to a query. It organises information and presents results using its retrieval and ranking systems

What it means, how it is used and where it comes up, with its related concepts.

[The whole glossary](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary)

## What it is and how it works

It may build its own index, use information from other providers or combine several sources. A metasearch engine queries different engines and brings their results together, but this distinction does not mean that every other engine crawls every resource itself. For a website, being accessible to crawlers does not guarantee appearing for a particular query.

Also known as

web search engine

Topics

[Technology and data](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/category/tecnologia-y-datos)

## Related concepts

- [Web crawler](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/internet/web-crawler.html)
- [SEO](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/digital-marketing/search-engine-optimization.html)
- [SERP](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/digital-marketing/serp.html)